Devised and performed by Rawcus Ensemble
At Arts House, Queensberry St North Melbourne, until July 10, 2022
Reviewer: Kate Herbert
Stars: ***1/2
This review was first published in The Age Arts online on Thur 30 June 2022 and then in print on (date TBC- Fri July 1?).
Read the review in The Age online here: Here We Are Amongst You
 |
| Prue Stevenson with Rawcus Ensemble in Here We Are Amongst You. Credit:Sarah Walker |
“For the next hour, you don’t have to do anything. We’ve got it.” This gentle introduction to Here We Are Amongst You, Kate Sulan’s final work with Rawcus, sets the audience at ease. There is a palpable sense of release and an audible sigh from the 50 people anticipating this intimate, almost meditative performance.
The audience sits in a single row of chairs arranged in a circle around the empty, central performance space. This is non-narrative, physical performance with a difference, devised and performed by an ensemble of idiosyncratic artists “with diverse minds, bodies and imaginations”. You need to watch this work with your heart as well as your mind and eyes.
The playful, exhilarating movement ebbs and flows: running, walking, turning, passing, veering, grouping, separating, slowing and speeding up to keep flowing without colliding. We feel the whoosh of air as runners whisk past, rushing from the centre past the audience to dart around behind the chairs. When they eventually stand still behind us, we hear their heavy breathing from the exertion.
